Have you ever though how much you can learn from a day in a museum?
Well, I’m here to share with you the marvels I found in Villa Borghese, along with their stories.
Follow me down this thread to a world of myth and divine inspiration:
Apollo and Daphne by Bernini; the sculpture depicts the climax of the Greek myth of Apollo and Daphe, as the nymph escapes Apollo's advances by transforming into a laurel tree.
Can you see the dynamic movement? Can you see her transforming?
Zoom In.
Venus Victrix, meaning Aphrodite the victorious; she holds an apple in her hand evoking her victory in the Judgement of Paris, which caused the Trojan War.
Can you see the winner’s arrogance in her posture?
Speaking of the Trojan War, here’s Aeneas and Anchisses. The Trojan hero Aeneas, is carrying his old father after the fall of Troy.
Myth wants him to have founded Rome.
Can you see the strength in the body of the son carrying the fickle body of his father?
Intermission: just a couple of little angels looking at you at the gate arc.
Just another one of this breathtaking ceilings. This scene depicts the Greek myth of Phaethon, son of Helius - the Sun.
The boy took his fathers chariot, carrying the Light but, after many complaints, from the stars in the sky to the Earth herself, Zeus strikes Phaethon with one of his lightning bolts, killing him instantly.
David preparing to launch his projectile against Goliath; this is the biblical story depicting David determined to win this fight for his life.
Another masterpiece of Bernini.
Can you see the determination in his facial expression? Zoom in!
And I saved the best fo last; Persephone’s abduction by Hades, also by Bernini.
This tragic scene depicts Hades, king of the underworld, abducting Persephone? Daughter of Demeter, Goddess of agriculture and nature. This Ancient Greek myth was used to explain the seasonal changes, as a deal was struck among the gods: Persephone would spend half a year above the ground with her mother (spring and summer) and half the year below (autumn and winter).
They ended up happily married.
Can you see her tears? Zoom in!
All photos are mine, from my travel diaries.
If you liked the stories, please share and spread the word. Our fellow humans need to see what our species is capable of.
A final shot of the three-headed good boy, Cerberus. I bet you don’t encounter this angle often.
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“God has undersigned Greek Freedom; and He won’t take it back”
This is about a Nation’s Holy Crusade after 400 years of pain under turkish yoke; and yet they didn't break. Ancestors and God led them against the Ottoman dreadnaught in History’s greatest upset..🧵⤵️
Setting: Mehmed II storms Constantinople with 80,000 Ottomans. Cannons shatter Walls, Janissaries swarm breaches, and last Greek emperor, Constantine XI, dies swinging, his body lost in the chaos.
Hagia Sophia, jewel of Christianity, is turned into a mosque. Tens of thousands are enslaved or butchered; the streets run red.
For Greeks, it’s not just a city lost—it’s the end of their world. The Ottomans rename Constantinople “Istanbul” and tighten their grip. Greece is carved up and ruled by Pashas, local governors with near-godlike power.
Have you ever watched the night sky and wondered about the constellations and their names?
Many were named by ancient Greeks with tales of gods, heroes & monsters. From Orion’s hunt to Cassiopeia’s throne, these 10 legendary asterisms light up our world. Here’s their story..🧵
These constellations were central to Greek identity—used for navigation, timekeeping, and storytelling. Their myths form a cosmic drama.
Here are 10 of the most important ones, based on their prominence in mythology, culture, and astronomy as understood by the ancient Greeks.
Ursa Major (Great Bear)
Zeus seduced the nymph Callisto, a follower of Artemis. When Hera, Zeus’s wife, found out, she turned Callisto into a bear out of jealousy. Later, Callisto’s son Arcas nearly killed her while hunting, unaware of her identity.
To save them, Zeus placed both in the sky—Callisto as Ursa Major, Arcas as Ursa Minor. The Greeks saw its circling around the pole star as a punishment, never allowed to dip below the horizon and rest.
Scientists just claimed that the Pyramids stand on top of giant pillars, stretching miles beneath the Earth’s surface; could this even be real?
I dug into forgotten texts, ancient myths (including Atlantis), engineering methods, and the new findings; here's the truth..🧵⤵️
In March 2025, a major archaeological breakthrough regarding the Giza Pyramids surfaced, specifically tied to the Pyramid of Cheops.
Corrado Malanga (Pisa Uni) and Filippo Biondi (Strathclyde Uni) used Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) tomography to scan the structures.
It's a technique that bounces radar waves off subsurface features to create high-resolution 3D images without digging. It revealed a sprawling underground complex stretching about 2 kilometers beneath the Giza Plateau, connecting all three main pyramids (Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure).
It revealed eight Cylindrical Spiral Structures; they seem as vertical, hollow shafts, each surrounded by spiral pathways, plunging 648 meters (over 2,000 feet) below the pyramid bases.
He chased them down to the shore and grabbed the stern of a fleeing Persian ship with his bare hands to stop it. The Persians hacked off his hand with an axe. Undeterred, he grabbed it with his other hand—only for that one to get chopped off too.
Then, in what might be the most hardcore moment in ancient history, he clamped onto the ship with his teeth, fighting like a "wild beast" until he finally fell.. here's the story..🧵⤵️
Cynaegirus (Κυναίγειρος), the Athenian warrior whose name means something like "hunter of dogs" in Greek—a fitting title for a man who hunted down his Persian enemies with ferocity. His story is tied to one of the most legendary battles in history: Marathon. 490 BC.
He was born into a prominent Athenian family, likely around the late 6th century BC. He was the brother of Aeschylus, who’d later become one of Greece’s greatest tragic playwrights, and Ameinias, who’d shine at the Battle of Salamis a decade later.
Picture Celtic marauding hordes fighting hoplites on a sacred mountain considered the navel of the Greek world; all the while Apollo was casting down thunderbolts to protect his Oracle.
All the above is true; here’s the story..🧵
The Galatian Wars were a chaotic, blood-soaked chapter of history where Celtic brutes collided with Hellenic forces in a series of epic showdowns. These were brutal, messy clashes driven by migration, plunder, and raw strength, set against the backdrop of the 3rd century BC.
By the 280s BC, the Celtic tribes of Western Europe—think war-painted, sword-swinging warriors with a thirst for glory—were spilling out of their heartlands (Western Europe). A massive wave of them, numbering tens of thousands, stormed southeast into the Balkans around 279 BC.
In these dark times, the West seeks strength in its roots: Greco-Roman civilization and Christianity.
But many claim that Christianity toppled Hellenism and Rome; can they coexist then?
I'm here to make the case for it..🧵⤵️
Some argue Christianity toppled Greco-Roman civilization by purging its pagan roots. When Constantine legalized Christianity and Theodosius I made it the state religion, the old temples got shuttered; the Oracle at Delphi fell silent, and pagan rituals were banned.
One way to approach this is through the rubble it left behind: the temples smashed, study sites silenced, and cultural heritage monuments destroyed.
Christianity in late antiquity didn’t just shift beliefs—it struck at the physical and intellectual heart of the Hellenic world.